Honouring Indigenous People - News 

Julie Dunaiskis

Administrator, HIP(Honouring Indigenous Peoples)

Other Happenings

THE HIP CIRCLE - please note, we are now publishing brand new issues of our Newsletter, monthly, called HIP Circle.  For any back issues of the Monthly Newsletters, please click here.

Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise hosted HIP Executive Director, John Currie, for a HIP Talk on June 12. John provided an overview of HIP as a Canada-wide joint Rotary and Indigenous Peoples initiative. President Charles Bridle thanked John for an informative presentation.

Rotary Club of Toronto hosted guest speaker Chief Stacey LaForme, the Mississaugas of the Credit. Chief LaForme provided wisdom on being true to oneself and making room for everyone to be themselves. Championed by Prince Kumar, along with other RC of Toronto Rotarians and Robins (Robin Hood Army of Canada), the team assembled 175 Welcome Boxes that are enroute to Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School in
Thunder Bay. Welcome Boxes are presented to Indigenous students from fly-in communities who will be attending high school in Thunder Bay (Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School). These Welcome Boxes provide necessary products to remove barriers to education including
pillows and blankets to ensure proper sleep, school supplies to achieve grades and hygiene products that enable social acceptance.

Rotary Club of Toronto West hosted HIP Executive Director, John Currie, for a HIP Talk on June 20th.

Gill Dugas reports that Rotary Club of Etobicoke has expanded its relationship with all the children in Anduhyaun and Nekenaan Women's Shelters, along with mothers returning to school, over the last 6 years by providing backpacks for school. Hundreds of backpacks are filled by the club each year. Additionally, the RC annually provides Halloween Bags, Thanksgiving/Solstice Goodie Bags and if possible gifts at Christmas. Over the last 6 years, the club has also been honoured to direct cheque funding for Anduhyaun's Winter Campaign to purchase new mattresses, clothing,
household items and food. Visits to Anduhyaun and Nekenaan are scheduled once or twice a month and the club always attends their Strawberry Moon Fundraiser, AGM and special events. Nekenaan is a second stage residence in Etobicoke and Anduhyaun is an Emergency Shelter.

HIP is excited to work in partnership with Rotary Club of Toronto Eglington, John Polanyi Collegiate Institute and Moose Cree FN to launch Operation Otôtêmimâw (Friend) - a Student to Student engagement program. 4 out of 10 on-reserve youth graduate Grade 12 compared to 9 out of 10 for non-Indigenous youth. This program is focused on closing that gap by inspiring education participation through the building of relationships between Indigenous youth (male, female, two-spirited, & disabled) grades 9 - 12 located in isolated rural Indigenous communities with urban non-Indigenous youth (male, female, two-spirited & disabled) grades 9-12. HIP will connect Indigenous and non-indigenous students together to build relationships, share and exchange cultural experiences and develop leadership skills and STEM knowledge. The program utilizes the "First Robotics Canada" format where students are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format. Participants call it “the hardest fun you’ll ever have!” Guided by adult Coaches and Mentors, students will team up to develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles (like keeping an engineering notebook), while realizing the value of hard work, innovation, and sharing ideas. The robot kit is reusable from year-to-year and can be programmed using a variety of languages, including Java. (https://www.firstroboticscanada.org/frc/)  . HIP has set up an online “Study Buddy” portal that will enable students to continue to communicate and collaborate together. The portal provides features such as document sharing, chat and video conferencing. In preparation of an in-person meeting, non-Indigenous students will attend cultural awareness and sensitivity training and Indigenous students will participate in ISWO ’s Standing Bear leadership program. Standing Bear utilizes sports to build a strong foundation for leadership and wellness and prepare students to represent Indigenous ways of knowing, learning, and doing. HIP is happy to announce the launch of the program will include students from John Polanyi Collegiate Institute and Moose Cree FN . The Rotary Club  of Toronto Eglinton has graciously agreed to sponsor funds to cover the cost of the robotics supplies and non-Indigenous students to travel to Moose Cree FN. HIP is seeking sponsors to cover the costs of Indigenous students to travel from Moose Factory to Toronto in December. If you can help, please contact HIP Executive Director, John Currie.

Joan Littleford from the Rotary Club of Whitby co-ordinated the transfer of urgently needed classroom tables from Trafalgar Castle School in Whitby to the Peterborough Native Learning Centre . Jason Gilbert from the Peterborough Native Learning Centre, pictured here, explained that despite numerous grant requests, the school has been unable to secure funds for critically needed classroom table. Special THANKS goes to HIP Director, John Andras, for arranging transportation.

Calendar of Events  We will be publishing events that HIP is involved with and others that we know of that may be of interest

INDIGENOUS LIFE FESTIVAL SUMMER 2019 - 

Indigenous Life Festival events are being celebrated in and around Ontario where Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members will come together to share information and awareness through interactive and creative activities.

Sept. 2019 - City of Barrie is planning an ILF event in September.

Watch for further details and visit www.indigenouslifefestival.com.

September 19 – 21: Gathering – First Nation Literary Festival, Georgian Bay Native Friendship Centre, Midland Public Library, https://orilliacentre.com

September 17 - 19: FIRST CONTACT - SEASON 2 The highly anticipated television series is coming back to APTN this fall with a new season and new participants. Don't miss the 3-Night Television Event on APTN (Please check local listings for broadcast times). FIRST CONTACT takes six Canadians on a 28-day journey intended to challenge negative attitudes and shed light on the true Indigenous experience. The travelers, all with ignorant views about Indigenous Peoples, have been invited to leave their everyday lives behind and embark on a unique journey, travelling deep into communities throughout Canada, including the nation’s capital, unceded Algonquin Anishanabek Territory, Labrador, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon. It is a journey that will challenge their perceptions and confront their prejudices about a world they never imagined they would see. This exploration of the true Indigenous experience in Canada will change the participants’ lives forever.

September 29th: Native Child & Family Services of Toronto Pow Wow - Dufferin Grove Park, Toronto

September 30th: ORANGE SHIRT DAY

Request a Speaker - Would your club like to have a Speaker at an upcoming meeting? If so, please check the list of available speakers on our website under Resources/Speakers List. Or contact Julie Dunaiskis (julie@eccgroup.ca) who will pass along to Ingrid Sproxton, our new speakers' co-ordinator to propose a date and a subject you would like the person to speak about i.e. a) about HIP, b) a project, or c) awareness of the issues. Ideally, these talks will inform members and guests and hopefully engage members in becoming involved in an Indigenous program, donating money and developing a relationship with the local Indigenous community. We are happy to help you connect with the community close to you.

Rotary HIP Brochure: A reminder, you can find our slightly revised brochure on our website under Resources (Rotary HIP - HIP Brochure). If you would like to use it, you may print and distribute to your networks. If you need more, contact us and we can send. We have also improved our Facebook page and added a twitter handle. We have over 200 FB followers and 60 twitter subscribers to date. If you would like to be a friend on our Facebook page, click :  https://www.facebook.com/HonouringIndigenousPeoples/ to see our new site. You can like, follow and share. We also encourage you to check our website and contents regularly. Encourage your friends too. Also send Julie (julie@eccgroup.ca) the email address of anyone who you think would like to receive our newsletter.

Approved Projects (Rotary HIP - Approved projects) - Check the HIP website to see full project descriptions and updates. We hope you or your club can support any of the projects mentioned as follows. We need much more financial support. Please join in. Not only will you help the project become reality and assist with the educational needs but you will learn a lot as well. We are also reviewing several new initiatives. When approved, we will be providing a brief outline with a link to the project. All of the projects below have been approved by our project committee and have the full support of the Indigenous community.

CURRENT REQUESTS - CAN YOU HELP?:

• $30,000 for Milestone Trip to Ottawa or Toronto for 14 Ahgwahbuush Memorial School grade 8 students from fly-in First Nations community of Poplar Hill. Needed for June. Sponsor: Needed.
• 50 Laptops for Indigenous Students attending postsecondary education. Sponsor: Needed
• $2500 for Bursaries for Indigenous students attending post-secondary education. Dollar match available. Sponsor: Needed.